It’s Not Communism or Capitalism It’s Extreme Capitalism

It’s Not Communism or Capitalism It’s Extreme Capitalism

Weekly Sermon, 18 March, 2018

I coined a new word years ago and I use it today – it’s called EXTREME CAPITALISM! Yes, it’s capitalism but taken to the extreme form.

It basically works like this. Allow for corporations to make money but allow them to get as big as they want and to squeeze out all competition, until they are ‘masters of the world.’ At least in the area that they dominate.

Many years ago, when there were Christians in business that actually practice Christian economics and had Christian morality guide their lives; they made a responsible profit. If an item cost $1, they would charge $1.30, $1.50 or thereabouts. This all depends on the cost to produce and item. Making a shaver for men, for example, there was a modest markup. If it was a restaurant, the markup would be more as there would be more waste and you could not sell what was made the next week or even the next day. With a straight edge razor, you know that if you didn’t sell it today, it would be just as good the next day, next week or next month, as the demand was still there.

But in this age of greed, you have companies charging as much as they can get away with. You have often heard ‘Charge what the market can bear.’ we are told that this is good business practice but it’s really greed. If you think this type of capitalism is OK, then consider this:

A man needs to shave (not really, but many do) and the razor company knows this. So, the price, which was previously $1.30, of which the company was making a nice profit from, decided to up the price to $2. Not that their cost went up but because they know they can get away with it. Then with sales being the same, they up the price more and more. Sure, the corporation decides a final figure but the price is now three times more than what it used to be. The customers may mumble, so the company makes a little fancy widget out of it to justify the cost. In fact, they might up the price on this, while keeping the single edge on the market. The company makes a double edge, then a triple edge all the while adding another buck to the price. But keep in mind the cheapest razor is, say, three times what it should be.

So, this goes on and on with each consumer item. What happens is, that each company and each manufacture is ‘milking the public’ for as much as they can get. It started off incremental but it goes up and up.

If all of this wasn’t bad enough, the government does the same thing with taxes. Of course, they have their excuse such as: social programs, military spending, servicing the debt, etc.

What does this do? This takes the savings that a family normally would have and when the husband and wife retires they are in poverty. A little bit here, a little bit there and before you know it, your money is all gone.

People wonder why they have no money when the retire – it’s because of Extreme Capitalism! Each company is milking the public as much as they can pay – and they pay it.

Marketing is down to a science and Madison Avenue knows its job well. The marketing department of large corporations knows their job well, too. They know what products people will pay almost any price to have it.

There are ladies perfume, ladies shoes, ladies handbags. You can buy cheap ones of these items but there are also expensive ones. Now, admittedly, ladies can buy the cheap ones. But they are enticed to buy the name brands, too. After all, they want others to see that ‘money is no object’ to them.

Razors for men is one for the guys. Do you notice that some cheap razors pull your skin? Why would this be with the technology we have today? We can make blades of steel very sharp and very cheap so why pay $1 or more for each blade you they put in the razor?

Batteries are another highly markup item. If you have an electronic item, and you enjoy using it, you’ll pay ‘what the market can bear’ on it! If you didn’t, you’d could not use your electronic item. Yet, do you know that it only costs pennies to make each battery. All it is, is a paste with metal particles in it, yet you are charged $1 a battery. You can get cheaper batteries but they don’t last that long. Is it because it really costs more to make good batteries? No. what you are paying for is the name. How the scam works is like this: Make a cheap battery and charge a cheaper price (though a good profit is still made). Then, when people are tired of changing batteries, they will eventually buy the expensive ones – making them think that what they pay is justified. It’s called, ‘Setting up the Sucker.’ This means, that some product is made that sells cheap but it’s cheaply made, too. So, if a person doesn’t want something cheaply made, they pay for the expensive item, whereas both are overpriced.

Pharmaceuticals are the highest markup item there is – from 1,000% to 10,000%. People pay this because they are told, ‘you will die if you don’t take it.’ So, people take it. With insurance paying for the bulk of the drugs or with the government directly subsidising it, most people don’t have to pay for this out of their pocket. But in either case, the people really pay for it through taxes.

Under Communism, it is politicians in control. Under Capitalism, it’s CEOs in control. In both cases, you have extreme wealth and extreme poverty. As America gets more and more Extreme Capitalist, you are seeing greater polarisation of wealth and poverty. Under Communism, you had no Middle Class; under Extreme Capitalism, you are seeing the same thing.

During the Soviet Union, you had the elite of the Communist Party Members making the money. You also had those who financed Communism make the money. When the Soviet Union was set up, the people who financed it, and thus made the huge profits were: Kuhn Loeb and Company in New York City and M.M. Warburg in Germany.

Probably the most extreme form of Extreme Capitalism is selling consumers products that the manufacturers know that are harmful in order to make a huge profit. Some examples in point: pharmaceutical drugs, food additives, nanotech foods, GMO food, vaccines, etc. the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rubber stamps anything that comes along. And the Federal Government allows for these companies to police themselves. Of course they will say the food is safe in order to make a profit and a usually huge one at that.

Of course, there are other factors that contribute to Europeans and Americans being poor but this article is just focused on one aspect of this ungodly economic system we live in.

It’s time we get back to Bible study in the schools, real Bible study in the churches and to have Christian economics in our respective countries!

Remember where you first heard Extreme Capitalism. I expect to hear this term used more in the future as our economic situation gets worse.